AO3 and a Mage

[Gavry]

Ok,

so I've spent the majority of my PL time playing my Bear, Gavry. Recently I levelled up my Mage, Bavian to 50th. I have a full Cosmos Set with Wand and Gurg eye and have been doing some maps recently with some good groups.

My observations so far; Mages SUCK in AO3. I die faster than a 30th level Bear. With full HPs and Shield up I can still die one-shotted. How the hell do you regular Mage players deal with it? I get so frustrated I quit playing my Mage in 10 minutes and go back to my bear.

What am I missing?

Are we just meant to die continually?

I just don't get it. I feel like I need to have an Armour pot going continually to just survive at all. It just feels so unbalanced as to be ludicrous.

One possible solution would be to change the Shield spell. Instead of it eating your Mana, which you desperately need just to function it should simply double, or triple your Hitpoints while it is active. That way you can keep spell-casting and possibly survive more than one hit/shot before biting the dust yet again. What do you think?

[dirtball]

Welcome to the wonderful world of maging, can't even explain how many times tanks yelled at me in AO3 for sucking. Got so tired of dying I now play my bird and bear only. Left my mage at lvl 49, not worth getting to 50 with current attribute imbalance.

[Necrobane]

Hmm, I wonder if changing the damage taken ratio when the shield is up would work? or perhaps if it took 1/4 hp and 3/4 mana?

[CanonicalKoi]

You die. A lot. That's pretty much how you deal with it, sadly. You spend a lot of your time running away, running in circles, running back from respawning (while, also sadly, getting cursed by your team for being slow), hiding in hallways, staying out of some rooms, sucking tank pots that make you a two-shot instead of a one-shot (yippee?) and cursing at the cool-down on Mana Shield. My mage is up to 50, but I rarely play with her in AO3 because it's, as you say, frustrating. I have far better survivability with my tank and he just got to level 48. Yeah, my (at the time) level 49 mage had King Mynas come around a corner and she died instantly; I don't think he even touched her. My level 47 (at the time) tank went toe-to-toe with him and killed him (while merrily spamming health pots, of course).

Why, gee, no this isn't a sore subject with me. Why do you ask? ;)

[Gavry]

Good. So it's not just me. Any dedicated Mage players with some helpful advice?

[krazii]

I agree with the thread, mages die too easily. That said, you can survive, even without pots (except overlord), but you have to be much more careful on how you play then birds and bears. You have to target casters/ archers/blasters first and take them out first while freezing meleeers, also have your birds root wall and tank beckon/taunt/stomp mobs. It's their jobs to keep the mobs off you, in a good party with players who know what to do and their responsibilities mages can be the most powerful (damage wise) in the group.

As for one hit bosses, I don't even attack until boss around 3/4 life, just heal buff/debuff. Especially if your rushing and there's extra mobs around the boss, then I just heal. I think that alot of people complain about mages dieing because they don't play the game the way it was intended. Mages are great if you take your time and work your way through a level, they suck if you rush, but game was not designed to be rushed, so you have to live with it or convert to pally.

[dirtball]

I think one good idea is to use a wand and a shield. This gives slightly better armor but most importantly less DPS so maybe you won't be targeted so quickly. Seems from reading forum threads that DPS is what the mobs are homing in on. I doubt it helps much but you may last a few extra seconds.

[Raxie]

are you talking about rushing or clearing? clearing is much easier but rushing is a bit hard. while rushing to the boss, always stay behind and never attack. only heal, buff and debuff. when you reach the boss, do the same. you should never attack the boss; if you do, the boss might target you and in one second you will be dead. that's the only solution i have found.

[shadywack]

Good. So it's not just me. Any dedicated Mage players with some helpful advice?

Continue whining. Nothing else helps the situation except venting.

And yes....in AO3 the mage does SUCK

[deathdealer]

May I recommend a dex Mage.

[Ellyidol]

No doubt here, they're the hardest to keep alive. The only decent mages I've seen are either dex or str. Int ones are just really hard to come by, especially in rushing.

[Gryndeon]

What Raxie said. When clearing, go slow and stay behind the tank. It's tempting to attack, but you will die. Not even a question about it. I just spam heals, buff and debuff. Occasional lightning, a lot of freezing. But I pretty much run in and out of the main action until the mob thins out.

For rushing, don't get too far behind the main group. When I play tank bear, I try to stay with the Mage to get the mobs off her (while she spams heals). Int mages often die on the way to the boss when they get too far back. At the boss, don't stand in one spot. Heal, buff and debuff, and keep moving. And always watch the health bars of your group. As mage, I don't even bother attacking when at the boss.

In the end, I respecced into pally anyway. I got tired of dying, even with all cosmos (including wand and eye). The lack of mana regen, on the other hand, is a whole different problem.

P.S. One more thing: try to have at least two mages in the group. It's sometimes necessary to do serial revs. We did map 1 with 5 mages one time (all lower than level 50), and cleared it. Not as successful with the higher maps, though.

[Tailless]

As others have stated the Int Mage is now mainly a support role. Instead of a Glass Cannon you are a Glass Band-Aid. You stay back and Spam Heal, Buff, Debuff and use Lightning or Ice sparingly. In some Full clear groups with one or more True Tanks you can wait untill the tanks have decent agro and then unleash your spells including Firestorm but you must be sure tanks have all the mobs. I run with a wand and eye for added survivability but you still have to be aware of everything. If the Tank dies there is a good chance you are next.

[giayuan]

i like the way you use glass ;)
im just going to get my elf to lvl50 as pally
equip it in full cosmos
than forget about it

[Htiek]

i am agree pure int mage suck in ao3, cause less hp and armor
but as for pally, dex mage or dual spec, it isnt
on 4 void, it is really safe on ol/gurg rush
on 3-4 rift, this nice too, but need drink some mp pots for mana usage
also needed some technique for the rush